Sonic Forces: Cosmic Illusions
by ZappuelLightnin'Rod
Summary: Tails and Classic Sonic have a run in with Infinite during their take back of the city. Infinite decides to show Tails his true power, in an unexpected way, involving someone important to him. Set in a X/Games universe hybrid.


Death Egg Sentinels rampaged through the city, destroying buildings and hurting innocent civilians. Shadow the hedgehog had been sighted by the Resistance, and now that Sonic the hedgehog was with them, they could finally get to the bottom of why he was working for the mad Doctor. Most of the Resistance members were busy fighting off the armies of the evil doctor, while others were helping civilians. However, two people were investigating something else. Those two people were Miles "Tails" Prower, and a version of Sonic the hedgehog from another dimension. Or timeline. Or whatever/whenever he's from.

Standing now in between several destroyed buildings was the smaller Sonic the hedgehog. Not seen as the same powerhouse as this dimension's, though still a good soldier during these times of need. He held a confrontational stance as Tails ran up behind him.

"Wait up, Sonic, I can't go as fast as you! Even if you're not the fastest Sonic here!" Tails whined, catching up to the smaller hedgehog. He panted, catching his breath as he looked back to the Azure hedgehog, who's were narrowed as he stood in front of a familiar dark figure.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the little pint sized hedgehog and his even weaker fox friend." Infinite said.

"You… You're that guy that was with Eggman in Green Hill!" Tails shouted.

"I suppose I am. The doctor did say something about you defeating his Egg Dragoon. No doubt you two were the ones I thought I sensed."

Sonic's fist clenched as he looked at Infinite's chest. The magenta gemstone he wore with such bravado was a sight all to familiar to him. He took a single step back, readying himself to jump at the jackal. He made his move, rushing forwards and jumping as high into the air as he could. However, this dimension seemed to have vastly different physics then that of his home. His jump couldn't reach the floating mobian. Not that it would have mattered much anyways, as he glided out of the way. He lowered himself in between Sonic and Tails before warping close to Tails in an instant. Tails shouted, as Infinite grabbed him by the throat. He was lifted upwards in Infinite's grasp.

"So, this is the sidekick of Sonic the hedgehog. Pathetic. Just like him." Infinite muttered in a threatening tone.

Sonic turned himself around and jumped before turning into a ball mid-air and revving up. When he hit the ground, he dashed towards Infinite at breakneck speed. Not that it mattered to Infinite. His own speed outmatched the Sonic of this dimension. He was more than capable of dodging this attack. He moved quickly to the let, Tails still in his grip. As Tails gasped for air, he got the sensation of lacking oxygen. Much faster than normally possible, almost as if they were being torn from his lungs forcefully. Infinite chuckled.

"Do you feel that? That breathless feeling? The cold embrace of death? It's terrifying isn't it? You should be thankful I'm merely giving you the sensation of suffocation. There are many, many other ways I could be killing you right now."

As Tails listened, his life actually began flashing before his eyes. His mind quickly traveled through his time on Westside Island, his first big adventure with Sonic, him facing the Egg walker, his time on the ARK, his time in space fighting the Metarex, Eggman's interstellar amusement park, the Lost Hex…. Everything was flashing before his eyes. Would this really be where he died?

As Sonic revved up another attack, Infinite spoke, "Oh… What's this? A fallen loved one? Hahahaha, how quaint."

With a single gesture, he threw Tails to Sonic, hitting him and knocking him down. Oxygen returned to Tails' lungs as the fox gasped for air. He surprisingly caught his breath quickly, almost as if he was never actually being choked in the first place. The both of them got to their feet as Infinite floated high into the air. Classic Sonic got into another battle stance, though, this time he was looking around for things he could use. Brute force wasn't something that was viable here. He needed strategy.

"Do the two of you want to know how Eggman was able to amass this army? How the likes of Zavok and Chaos joined our ranks despite being deceased? Why the brooding hedgehog decided to band together with the doctor?" Infinite monologued, offering an answer to the two.

Tails blinked for a second. Shadow was sighted in the city during this attack, and with Sonic here, they could at least capture him and try to get an answer out of him. Then again, Shadow's crafty and could escape. And from what Infinite was talking about earlier with letting Sonic live in their first encounter, he does seem to let his enemies go off easy, even though he could just kill them.

"I was kind of curious how you managed that. And you do seem like the kind of guy who likes telling everyone about his evil plans, so I'm all ears." Tails said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. A trait he began picking up from Sonic in recent times.

Infinite gave a light chuckle, "Oh,I'd suggest you speak to me with a lot more respect, child. After all, I'm about to bring back someone you never thought you'd see again…"

With the snap of his fingers, a purple and pink mist formed underneath Infinite's floating figure. Digital sparks began flickering around the mist as an entity began to form from the Ruby Mist. Sonic recognized the mist from his home dimension, back from the Titanic Monarch. Tails took precautions, ready for some past villain to come forth from the mist. However, his eyes widened when he began to see who it actually was.

Sonic did not recognize the entity, and could only guess that it was another villian from this universe. Though, they certainly didn't look like a villain. He heard Tails gasp as the figure began to make itself seen. He glanced back to Tails, expecting a look of horror. But he did not get that.

Instead, perched upon Tails' face was a look of disbelief. But not the type of disbelief after seeing a bad guy crawl up out of the rubble being convinced they were dead. No, this disbelief was… a very wide mixture of emotions. Sorrow. Regret. Hope. Love. And many more. To say Sonic was confused would be an understatement. Tials only managed to whisper one word, and one word alone out of astonishment.

"Cosmo…?"

Indeed, standing before the two of them was the green haired girl from space. The very same one that died by Tails' hand. Her blue eyes lit up in the fog. She blinked a few times, rubbing the mist out of her eyes, though she still seemed to be flickering in glitches, "Tails…? Is that you…?"

A drop of water was heard in Sonic's ear. He looked back to where it sounded and saw tears flowing down Tails' muzzle. Sonic grew defensive, looking back to the girl with a determined face, read to protect Tails if this girl mean him harm. Tails however, made a step forwards in front of Sonic, going past his defenses of him.

"Cosmo… Is it…. Is it really you…?" Tails muttered. This couldn't be real. This had to have been some sort of illusion. Cosmo's been dead for so long and Infinite just seemed to just bring her back from the dead.

"Yes, Tails… it's me." Cosmo said, stepping forwards form the mist. Tails broke down, falling to his hands and knees. He began crying and shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Oh, Cosmo, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to shoot you! I didn't' want to do it! Everyone else forced me to! But I did it! I did it and I killed you!" Tails shouted. Sonic's eyes grew wide, looking back up to the green haired girl. She took a few more steps forwards, kneeling down next to him and lifting his his chin.

"Tails… You don't have to worry about that. I forgive you. I made you shoot me… And we're all alive because of it." he said, giving him the gentlest of smiles. The smile he loved so dearly. Tails sniffed before wrapping his arms around her and bawling into her chest. Within his tears of joy, he heard her heartbeat. She felt so soft. So warm. So real. This had to have been some sort of power of the Phantom Ruby. Could it alter reality? Could it bring back the dead? Could it have time travel properties? It didn't matter. None of it mattered. He had Cosmo in his hands, and for that he could never be more thankful.

Of everything Sonic had seen in this strange future dimension, this was by far the one he did not get. It was clear that Tails loved this girl, and that he did something bad to her, but what was it? He killed her? Why would he do such a thing? A lot of context was necessary for him. Though, he supposed that maybe it was worth asking for later on, just in case he and his friends would run into any similar characters in the future. In spite of the heartwarming moment, he looked back up at Infinite, who had not moved from his spot.

"How touching. A reunion of the dead." He said, in a deathly tone. Classic Sonic clenched his fists, ready to fight again. Maybe this Cosmo character could help them out in some way. Not that it would make a lot of sense why he could bring an ally to them. He glanced back down at her hugging Tails. Her face was visible to Sonic, which allowed him to see something shocking.

"Don't worry, Tails…" She said, her eyes opening wide to reveal they had turned from blue to red, "We'll be together forever… I promise."

She sported a toothy grin as she spoke. From her sleeve, a knife jotted out. Classic Sonic's eyes went wide. He was about to rush against her, to save Tails. But then something unexpected happened.

A bright flash of light shone next to them, and a good kick sent the both of them flying. Cosmo landed further than Tails did. Cosmo's red eyes and sharp teeth faded away, back to her original appearance. The both of them got up and looked at who had struck them. Standing before them was the all too familiar sight of Shadow the hedgehog.

"You!" Infinite shouted. Shadow merely humphed in his direction. Not far behind was the Sonic the hedgehog of this dimension, rushing forwards, stopping on a dime at the intersection of destroyed buildings.

"Shadow! I got here as fast as I co-" Sonic's eyes widened when he saw Cosmo laying on the floor not to far off from Tails

"Wait, Cosmo?!" He looked at her and then back up at Infinite. Thanks to Shadow's exposition earlier, he knew exactly what was going on. He growled at infinie, "You!"

"Ah, yes, hello hedgehogs. I suppose you all know exactly what's going on?" Infinite said, with a smirk under his mask.

" don't have time for this." Shadow exclaimed. In a bright flash of light, he vanished.

Tails, completely surprised by everything that just happened quickly turned back to Cosmo, to make sure she was alright. As she was getting up, Shadow teleported right on top of her, his jet boot stomping on her chest. Tails' eyes widened.

"Cosmo!"

"Tai-" was the last thing Cosmo could say, reaching her hand out to him, before it fell. Her face went from complete horror to shocked and calmed. She ceased to move. A bright flash of light came from Shadow's shoe which firmly separated her life and now death. A burning hole lied there as Shadow removed his foot from her. He gave a hateful glance back to Infinite.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted. The other Sonic's eyes widened, unsure how to take such violent actions from the black hedgehog. This universe's Sonic looked back up to Infinite with a hateful glare,"You're going to pay for this."

"Oh? Am I? And here I thought I was just reuniting a pair of lovers." Infinite said, fully knowing the dark twist he meant.

"I ought to grab you by your hair and beat you to the ground like I did before." Shadow threatened. Tails sat on his knees, tears falling from his eyes as he looked upon Cosmo's dead corpse.

"Well, that will be hard to do, now with the power of the Phantom Ruby. Besides, you no doubt will be having your own trouble." Infinite said.

"And what would that be?" Shadow said, completely expecting an onslaught of robots or more illusions by Infinite. What he got however, was much different.

Tails' teeth gritted together, a he looked on Shadow in anger. He shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran towards Shadow, straight up punching him in the face. This caught Shadow off guard to say the least. He stepped back from the recoil a bit before Tails tried continue his onslaught of anger.

"You killed her! She was here! She was alie! And you killed her!" Tails shouted, tears in his eyes.

Both Sonic's eyes widened, but only this dimension's sonic spoke, "Tails! No! You don't understand!"

Infinite chuckled, deciding that now was the time to take his leave. He zoomed off across the cityscape at breakneck pace. Shadow got a glance of this and shouted, "No! He's getting away!"

"I don't care who's getting away! You're going to pay for that! For killing Cosmo!" Tails shouted in rage, continuing his attempt at a beat down on Shadow., which might;ve done some damage if Shadow wasn't good at blocking.

"We don't have time for this!" Shadow shouts, as he deflected one of Tails' attacks and quickly karate chopped Tails' neck. Tails' eyes rolled into the back of his head, and dropped to the floor.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted. Both Sonic's ran up to Tails, checking up on him

"Relax. I only knocked him unconscious…" Shadow reassured. He observed how far Infinite got away. Had Tails not attacked him so suddenly, they might have actually been able to beat him.

The corpse of Cosmo began to deteriorate similarly to the Shadow replica Shadow had destroyed sparked Sonic to speak to Shadow, "You could've just said, 'Tails, look out, it's a trap!' you know. Didn't have to go and explode that illusion's chest in."

"He wouldn't have believed me for a second. Had I not intervened, she would've killed him." Shadow explained.

Sonic was about to say something to rebuttal Shadow, but he was stopped by his counterpart, who was nodding to signify Shadow was right. The taller hedgehog merely sighed, looking back to Tails. He picked him up and the three hedgehogs began walking back to base.

"You're explaining and apologizing to him when he wakes up."

"Understood."


End file.
